Trip Recap: Pico Hiko

Hold up... an event for splitboarders to hang, try out as much gear as you can, and potentially win some raffle goodies? Sign me up. Pico Hiko is an event put on by the one and only Mike Girard, our Jones and Mammut rep. The amount of effort and time he puts into this one made for one of my favorite days on a mountain. Whether you are a backcountry expert, a beginner who has never tried splitboarding, or somewhere in between, this event is a guaranteed great time. The event took place at Pico Mountain, about 3 hours from the store in Boston. 

I decided to leave the night before to spend the morning getting stoked instead of sitting in traffic. I woke up at the hotel, had some sub-par waffles, and got to the mountain around 7:30 AM to start the day. Got my uphill pass, did a short (but extremely effective) stretch, and then headed to the booths to see what vendors were at the event. 

Jones, Mammut, Burton, Never Summer, Outdoor Gear Exchange, and Splitboard VT had tents set up with seemingly endless boards and gear to test out for the day. While I would have loved to test them all, my legs are built for doing kickflips, not for uphill treks. I set what I thought was a casual goal for myself, 3 summit laps for the day. 

I needed to pick my gear wisely, so I started the day with the splitboard version of one of my favorite snowboards we carry — the Weston Backwoods. The way marathon runners pace themselves is something I should have considered because I sprinted up the first lap — this was due to my craving for the freshest snow, wanting to get back in time to then do it again, and just being excited to be there. A few pitstops for water or a picture could have benefited me, but the excitement drove me up. 

The Backwoods paired with Voile Light Rail bindings and some G3 skins made for a really comfortable uphill battle. I chose the quickest route up for this first lap (which was definitely a good thing seeing that I couldn't walk for about 3 days after the event). The ride down was great — the Backwoods felt really secure on some of the areas with less than desirable snow and absolutely thrived in the trees and pow stashes I was able to find. 

Once I got to the bottom, it was time to switch setups — the Mind Expander from Jones was next up. I was really excited to try this board out. Paired with a set of Spark R&D Arc bindings and Jones Nomad Skins, it felt like the perfect setup. My legs, at this point, had not registered the future pain they would be going through, so I decided to take the scenic route up. The grip-to-glide ratio on the Nomad skins is ideal, a perfect balance. Once we made it to the top of this lap, I started to feel the soreness creep in. However, the second I switched to the downhill mode, I forgot about my legs. 

The Mind Expander is an extremely nimble board with a hybrid-directional shape. The blunt nose kept me floating, while the shorter sidecut made me turn quickly and precisely. I cruised down this lap and decided a quick liquid lunch was needed if I wanted to reach my goal without having to turn around halfway up the hill. 

For my last lap, I chose the Hovercraft Splitboard from Jones — this board is a beast. The directional shape with a really stiff tail kept me stable throughout the patches of ice. I wanted to layover some hard turns, so I decided to mount my binding angles double positive. 

The last lap was guided by some fellas from Mammut and Basecamp — this was called the Avvy Scavy. Essentially it was a great opportunity to get more familiar with the search and rescue aspect of backcountry riding. Mike and his crew buried a Mammut backpack with a beacon inside of it at a hut towards the top of the mountain, and we were brought to the general vicinity of the bag, and the first to find it using the beacons got to keep it. Unfortunately, about 3/4 up the long tour my legs decided they no longer worked, so I was not the one to find it — I had to save my energy to make it to the top and actually be able to snowboard down. We took a beautiful detour onto Long's Trail and got to experience some tight single-track skinning. 

After the group made it to the top, we all celebrated a little and ripped down the mountain together. I am not sure if we were smiling because we were having fun or because we knew beer from Larsons and raffle prizes were waiting for us at the bottom. While I did not win any grand prizes, I did win a bag of delicious dog treats for my pup. Some people, however, left with new splitboards, bindings, Jones jackets, and many more amazing prizes. After the raffle, we got to hear some music, have some drinks, and most importantly, laugh and hang out with some awesome people. 

I was super stoked about the day and thankful to Mike and everyone else who put this event together. Can't wait to come back next year in better shape to do 4 laps (no promises). 

Photos by Joshua Bogardus, courtesy of Mike Girard.